Unitized circuit breaker panel board



May 3, 1955 R. G. PAGE UNITIZED CIRCUIT BREAKER PANEL 'BOARD Filed Nov. 29, 1952 I M or 7.1 7 E 0 3 Inventor: TPobePt G. age,

IS Attr'fi 9- Unite Patented May 3, 1955 ice UNETEZED CERLUET BREAKER PANEL BOARD Robert G. Page, New Britain, Conn, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of York Application November 2h, 1552, Serial No. 323,283

8 Claims. ($5. 317-419) My invention relates to. panel boards for jack-mounted or plug-in type circuit breakers and the like, and more particularly to unitized panel hoards formed of individual circuit breaker mounting bases.

in the construction of panel boards for a plurality of jack-mounted circuit breakers or the like, it has heretofore been the practice to construct different integral panel boards for use with two circuits, four circuits, six circuits and greater numbers of circuits, usually in pairs. Thus, it has been necessary to stock a variety of types of panel boards dilfering only in the number of circuits provided, and conversion of a board after installation to provide more or less circuits was possible only by complete replacement of the panel board.

it is therefore a general object of my invention to provide a panel board of unitized construction having parts from which a panel board having any desired numher of pairs of circuits may readily be built.

it is a further object of my invention to provide a new and improved unitized panel board comprising at least one interconnected pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of similar structure.

it is still another obiect of my invention to provide a unitizcd panel board construction comprising an interconnected pair of circuit breaker mounting panels so constructed that when disconnected-they may be used as individual circuit breaker sub-bases.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a unitized panel board construction comprising an interconnected pair of circuit breaker mounting panels having all has bar connections available from thefront surfaces of the mounting panels.

A more specific object of my invention is the provision of a panel board unit'comprising a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of like construction interconnected through common bus bar connectors of like construction, which connectors may be readily reversed to reverse the phase connection of the panel board to associated bus bars.

in carrying out my invention in one form I provide individual mounting panels or bases for each of a plurality of plug-in or jack type circuit breakers. These panels l. arrange in pairs disposed in end to end co-planar relation with combined prong connectors and load terminal bars fixed to the panels at their remote ends. The adjacent ends of each pair of panels are interconnected by common conductors each providing at both ends a prong connector for a'breaker and providing intermediate its ends a portion connectible to a bus bar. All bus bar connections are. available from the front of the panel and the common terminal bars are readily reversible to reverse phase connections. These pairs of mounting panels are mounted in side by side relation upon a suitable support to build up panel boards having-any desired number of pairs of circuits.

My invention itself will be more fully understood and its variousobjects and advantages further appreciated by referring 'nowto the following detailedspecifi-v cation taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of a panel board embodying my invention, showing one draw-out type circuit breaker fixed to the board and a second such breaker removed from the board; Fig. 2 is a crosssectional view through a portion of the panel board of Fig. l taken along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a similar cross-sectional view of another portion of the panel board of Fig. 1 taken along the lines 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of an individual circuit breaker mounting panel, several of which are shown assembled to constitute the panel board of Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a erspective View of an insulating cover for the mounting panel of Figs. 4 and 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a clamping plate for fixing the insulating cover of Fig. 6 to the mounting panel of Figs. 4 and 5; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an alternative form of load terminal connector providing back connection of the load circuit conductors.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown at Fig. 1 a unitized panel board comprising two pairs of individual circuit breaker mounting bases or panels 1, 2 and 3, 4 fixed to supporting chanenls 5 and 5. The supporting channels 5 and 6 may suitably be fixedly mounted in an enclosing casing or the like, not shown in the drawing, and thus constitute parts of one integral supporting member. The supporting channels 5 and 6 are disposed in parallel spaced relation, and each pair of circuit breaker mounting panels is disposed in end to end coplanar relation, with one panel of each pair fixed to the supporting channel 5 and the other panel of the ,e pair fixed to the supporting channel 6. The pairs of incoming bases are disposed in side by side relation along the length of the supporting channels 5 and 6. It will be evident that additional pairs of mountin bases may be fixed to the channels in any desired quantity.

The circuit breaker mounting panel 1 is shown at Figs. 4 and 5, Fig. 4 showing the front surface of the panel and Fig. 5 showing the rear surface thereof. All the mounting panels are of identical construction, so that only one need be described. As shown at Figs. 4 and 5 the mounting panel 1, formed of a suitable molded asbestos phenolic compound, is of flat rectangular configuration notched out at opposite sides at 7 and S to provide for panel and circuit breaker mounting bolts, as will be described hereinafter. Between the notches 7 and 8 the front surface of the mounting base is provided at its center with a positioning boss 9 having a central recess 13 both cooper-able with complementary parts on the rear surface of a draw-out circuit breaker adapted to be mounted upon the panel. This will be evident from Fig. l in which are shown two circuit breakers l1 and lla, the circuit breaker 11a being removed from the panelboard to expose its rear surface. in this rear surface is a recess 90' cooperable with the panelboss 9 and a bolt head 16:: disposed to seat in the panel recess 19. A pair of bolt holes 12 is provided in the mounting panel 1 (Figs. 4 and 5) on opposite sides of the mounting boss 9.

The mounting panel 1 is provided at one end with a set of three load terminal receiving recesses 13 of rectangular configuration, and in each recess provided a bolt hole 14. At the outer end of each recess 13 the base is notched as at 15, to provide for rear connected terminals, as will be more fully described hereinafter. At the opposite end of the mounting canel there are provided a set of three line terminal receiving recessses 16 of rectangular configuration, and within each recess is provided a bolt hole 17. At the outer ends of these recesses the base is likewise notched out at 13, to provide passage for terminal conductors, as will be more fully described here inafter. in addition, the inner ends of the two outer recesses 16 are provided with apertures 19 piercing the base 1.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 it will be observed that when assembled, there are positioned within the load terminal recesses 14 load terminal bars 20 of electric conducting material. As more particularly shown at Figs. 2 and 3 the load terminal bars 29 are fixedly held in recesses 13 by means of bolts 21 passing through the bolt holes 14 from the rear side of the panei l and threaded into the terminal bars 26. The inner ends of the load terminal bars 20 are upturned, as at 2611, and project forwardly from the outer surface of the mounting panel 1, thereby to constitute contact prongs for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts in the rear of a draw-out breaker adapted to be mounted upon the base. Such breakers are shown at 11 and 11a Fig. l, the breaker 11a being removed from the base and showing at its rear side a set of three socket contacts 22 cooperablc with the load prongs 22a shown at Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The load circuit terminal bars 29, shown at Figs. 1, 2 and 3, are provided at their outer ends with upturned load terminal connectors providing for front connection of suitable load circuit conductors. As shown at Fig. 8 the outer ends of the load terminal bars 2 3v may be rearwardly directed, as at 2%, to pass through the end slots in the base and provide rear connection for the load circuit conductors, thereby to provide a dead front panel board.

At their adjacent edges, each pair of circuit breaker mounting panels, as the panels 1 and 2, is interconnected by means of three common terminal bars 23, 24 and 25 seated in the opposed pairs of recesses lie in the panel. The central common terminal bar is seated in the central recess 16 of both adjacent panels, and thus overlies the front surface of the panels at both its ends. This central terminal bar 23 is fixed to both panels by bolts 26 similar to the bolts 21, and its center portion is forwardly offset, as shown at Figs. 1, 2 and 3, to provide for connection by a bolt 27a to a bus bar 27 adjacent the front faces of the mounting panels. This front bar bus 27 may, for example, be the grounded neutral bus of a threewire electric distribution system. Both ends of the common terminal bar 23 are upturned and extend outwardly from the front surfaces of the panels 1 and 2, as at 23a and 23b, to provide contact prongs for cooperation with cooperating socket contacts in the rear surface of drawout circuit breakers, as 11 and 11a, mounted upon the panels. One such socket contact is shown at 2 5 on the removed breaker at Fig. 1. It will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that the contact prong 23a cooperates with a breaker mounted upon the panel 3, and the contact prong 23b cooperates with another breaker mounted upon the panel 2.

The outer common terminal bars 24 and 25 are centrally offset, as clearly shown at Fig. 2, and are of identical construction, but reversely positioned in the panels 1 and 2. The opposite ends of each offset common terminal bar 24 and 2S overlie opposite surfaces of the adjacent mounting panels, and the bars are reversely positioned with respect to each other so that the bar 24 overlies the front surface of the panel 2, and the bar 25 overlies the front surface of the panel 2. The opposite end of the bar 24 lies behind, or underlies panel 1, while the opposite end of the bar 25 lies behind the panel 2. Both ends of each of the offset common terminal bars 24 and 25 are outturned as at 24a, 24b and 25a, 25b, and project outwardly from the front surfaces of the panels 1 and. 2 thereby to constitute contact prongs for cooperation with socket contacts 29 and 3% respectively, of a circuit breaker, as 11a shown at Fig. 1. It will be understood that the contact prong 24b projects through one of the apertures 19 and the panel 1, and the contact prong a projects through one of the apertures 19 in the panel 2. The overlying portions of the offset terminal bars 24 and 25 are bolted to the panels 1 and 2 each by a bolt 26a (Fig. 2).

The underlying portions of the offset terminal bars 24 and 25, these portions being adjacent the contact prongs 24b and 25a respectively, are positioned in shallow slots 31 (Fig. 5) in the rear sides of the panels 1 and 2 and are connected, respectively, to bus bars 32 and 33 adjacent the rear surfaces of the panels 1 and 2. One such connection is shown in greater detail at Fig. 2, where the offset terminal bar 24 is shown connected to the bus bar 32. It will be observed from Fig. 2 that this connection is made by means of a shouldered bolt 34 passing through one of the bolt holes 17 in the panel 2 and threading into the bus bar 32. The oifset shoulder of the bolt 34 engages a lock washer 35 and firmly clamps the underlying portion of the offset terminal bar 34 to the bus bar 32. The head of the bolt 34 is available from the front of the panel 1. A similar connection is made between the offset common terminal bar 25 and the bus bar 33 by means of a shouldered bolt 36 (Fig. l), the head of which is also available from the front of the panel 2. Thus it will be evident that all the bus bar connecting bolts 27a, 34 and 36 are available from the front surface of the panel board. Moreover, mounting of the panel board upon the channels 5 and 6, or upon other raised supporting members or bosses, provides needed spacing between the en closure (not shown) and the rear bus bars 32 and 33.

In attaching the circuit breaker mounting panels 1, 2, 3 and 4 to the channels 5 and 6, each mounting panel is first provided with an insulating cover plate 37 overlying its rear surface, thereby to cover the connecting bolt 23., 26, and 26a. Each cover plate 37 is cut out at one corner, as at 38, to expose the underlying portion of the one offset common terminal bar which overlies the rear surface of that panel. Each insulating cover plate is provided at each side with a set of three triangularly disposed bolt holes 39 (Fig. 6). Behind each cover plate 37 is disposed a clamping plate 40 (Fig. 7), which is provided also with two sets of triangularly disposed bolt holes registering with the bolt holes 39. The inner bolt holes 41 of the clamping plate 40 are tapped to receive clamping bolts 42 (Fig. 2) passing through the bolt holes 12 of the mounting panel. Thus it will be seen that the clamping bolts 42 connect the clamping plate 40, the cover plate 37 and a single mounting panel together to form one integral, individual circuit breaker sub-base or mounting panel, the outer bolt holes in the cover plate and clamping plate being exposed by the notches 7 and 8 in the molded panel.

As shown at Fig. 1 each circuit breaker mounting panel is fixed to one of the channels 5 or 6 by a pair of bolts 43 (Fig. l) passing through one pair of opposite bolt holes in the cover plate 37 and clamping plate 40 and threaded into the associated supporting channel. The other opposite pair of bolt holes in the cover plate 37 and clamping plate 40 registers with another pair of tapped holes in the supporting channel to receive a pair of long mounting bolts 44, (Fig. 1) which hold a cooperating draw-out type circuit breaker in place on the associated mounting panel. At Fig. 1 one such circuit breaker 11 is shown mounted on the panel and another circuit breaker 11a is shown disconnected from the panel.

It will now be evident to those skilled in the art that my new and improved unitized panel board is constituted of a minimum number of similar parts which may be variously arranged to form a variety of panel boards. The individual circuit breaker mounting panels, or sub-bases, are combined in unitized pairs by means of the common terminal bars interconnecting their adjacent ends, and any desired number of these pairs of mounting panels may be mounted side by side to provide a panel board having as many pairs of distribution circuits as required. More over, by reversing the disposition of any one or more pairs of offset common terminal connectors, the phase connecrat tion of the associated pair of draw-out circuit breakers may be reversed. This is possible by reason of the fact that each mounting panel is provided with two apertures 19, even though only one is used for any particular phase connection. Furthermore, by selecting either front connected or back connected load terminal members, the entire panel board, or any part thereof, may be made either front connected or back connected as desired. In addition, it may now be observed that my new and improved individual circuit breaker mounting bases may be used separately, apart from interconnection in a panel board structure, by utilizing either the front connected or ti e back connected type of load terminal bar, or a combination of these, at both ends of the mounting base. For such separate use of the mounting base or panel the entire rear surface is covered with insulating material by utilizing two of the cover plates 37 with their notched out corners oppositely disposed.

Thus, while I have shown only a preferred embodiment of my invention by way of illustration many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, and I therefore wish to have it understood that I intend in the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A panel board comprising a supporting member, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting member in end to end co-planar relation, a plurality of load terminal conductors mounted on each said panel at the remote ends thereof, each said load terminal conductor including a draw-out connector portion for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating draw-out connectors of a circuit breaker adapted to be releasably mounted on each said panel, a pair of offset common terminal bars oppositely disposed and mounted upon adjacent ends of said panels with one end of each said common bar overlying one said panel and the other end underlying the other said panel, each said common bar being provided at its ends with integral draw-out connector portions extending outwardly from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating draw-out connectors of said circuit breakers, the underlying panel portions of said common bars intermediate their ends being adapted for connection to spaced apart bus bars behind said panels.

2. A panel board comprising a supporting member, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting member in end to end co-planar relation, adjacent ends of said panels being provided each with an aperture, and a pair of offset terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each said terminal bar overlying opposite surfaces of said mounting panels, said terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of a draw-out circuit breaker adapted to be mounted on each said panel, one said prong projecting through said aperture, whereby the underlying portions of said terminal bars may be connected to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels.

3. A panel board comprising a supporting member, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting member in end to end co-planar relation, adjacent ends of said panels being provided at opposite sides each with an aperture, a plurality of load terminal conductors mounted on each said panel at the remote ends thereof, each said load terminal conductor including an outturned contact prong projecting from the front surface of the associated panel for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contact of a draw-out circuit breaker mounted on said panel, a pair of offset common terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each said terminal bar overlying opposite surfaces of said panels, said terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of said draw-out circuit breakers, one prong of each said common bar projecting each through one of said apertures, and a third common terminal bar overlying the front surfaces of both said panels and having at its ends outturned contact prongs and intermediate its ends a forwardly offset portion for connection to a bus bar in front of said panels, the underlying portions of said offset terminal bars being adapted for connection to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels.

4. A panel board comprising a supporting member, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting member in end to end coplanar relation, adjacent ends of said panels at opposite sides being provided each with an aperture, a pair of offset terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each said terminal bar overlying opposite surfaces of said panels, said terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable engagement with cooperating socket contacts of a draw-out circuit breaker mounted on each said panel, one said prong of each said terminal bar projecting through the aperture in one said panel, and a shouldered bolt projecting through each said panel from the front surface toward me rear surface thereof for connecting the underlying portions of said offset terminal bars to spaced apart bus bars behind said panels.

5. A. panel board connprisint a supporting member, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting member in end to end co-planar relation, adjacent ends of said panels being provided at opposite sides each v 'ith an aperture, a pair of offset common terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each said terminal bar overlying opposite surfaces of said panels, said offset terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with coop rating socket contacts of a drawout circuit breaker mounted on each said panel, one prong of each said terminal bar projecting each through one of said apertures whereby the underlying portions of said offset terminal bars may be connected to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels, a shouldered bolt projecting through each said panel and through the terminal bar portion underlying that panel for counection to said rear bus bars, and a third common terminal bar overlying the front surfaces of both said panels and having at its ends upturned contact prongs for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of said circuit breakers, said third terminal bar having intermediate its ends a forwardly offset portion adapted for connection to a terminal bar adjacent the front surfaces of said panels.

6. A panel board comprising a Supporting member, having raised mounting surfaces a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said mounting surfaces in end to end co-planar relation, adjacent ends of said panels at opposite sides being provided each with an aperture, a pair of offset common terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of said offset bars overlying the front surfaces of said panels and the other ends of said bars underlying said panels at the rear, said common terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of a draw-out circuit breaker mounted on each said panel, one end prong of each said offset bar projecting through the aperture in one of said panels, a plurality of load terminal bars overlying the front surfaces of said panels at the remote ends thereof, each said load terminal bar being provided at one end with an outturned contact prong projecting from the front surface of the associated panel for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of said circuit breakers, connecting bolts extending from the rear sur faces of said panels into threaded engagement with said load terminal bars and with the overlying portions of said offset terminal bars, and a sheet of insulating material overlying the rear surface of each said panel to cover said bolts and having one corner cut out to expose the underlying portion of one of said offset terminal bars thereby to provide for connection of said underlying terminal bar portions to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels.

7. A panel board comprising a pair of supporting channels in parallel spaced relation, a pair of individual circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting channels in end to end co-planar relation, adjacent ends of said panels being provided at opposite sides each with an aperture, a pair of offset terminal bars oppositely disposed between said adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each said terminal bar mediate portion Offset forwardly from the front surfaces of said panels, whereby said forwardly offset portion of said third bar may be connected to a bus bar adjacent the front surfaces of said panels and the underlying portions of said offset terminal bars may be connected to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels.

8. A panel board comprising a supporting member, a pair of individual rectangular circuit breaker mounting panels of insulating material fixed to said supporting members in end to end co-planar relation, each said panel being each provided at each adjacent corner with an aperture, and a pair of ofis'et terminal bars oppositely disposed between adjacent ends of said panels with opposite ends of each terminal bar overlying opposite surfaces of said panels, said terminal bars being provided at their ends with outturned contact prongs projecting from the front surfaces of said panels for detachable contacting engagement with cooperating socket contacts of a drawout circuit breaker mounted upon each said panel, the underlying ends of said offset terminal bars projecting each through one of said apertures, whereby the underlying portions of said terminal bars may be connected to spaced apart bus bars adjacent the rear surfaces of said panels and said terminal bars may be reversed in position to reverse their connections to said bus bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,203,582 Chase Nov. 7, 1916 1,656,152 Thomas Ian. 10, 1928 1,657,486 Scott Jan. 31, 1928 1,902,790 Starrett Mar. 21, 1933 2,086,796 Frank luly 13, 1937 

